This page is a compendium of items of interest - news stories, scurrilous rumors, links, academic papers, damnable prevarications, rants and amusing anecdotes - about LAUSD and/or public education that didn't - or haven't yet - made it into the "real" 4LAKids blog and weekly e-newsletter at http://www.4LAKids.blogspot.com . 4LAKidsNews will be updated at arbitrary random intervals.

Friday, October 31, 2008

October 20, 2008, 9:00 pm - As part of our professional development sessions at the start of this school year, the faculty at my school participated in a team-building exercise to learn more about our leadership styles. Each corner of the room was labeled for one of the four compass points, and included a brief description of a guiding personality style — action, care, detail, and, the corner I chose, speculation: “likes to look at the big picture before acting.”

Unsurprisingly in a room full of teachers, the corners representing care and attention to detail quickly filled, but us big-picture-speculators numbered only four. We spent most of our time together discussing what we planned to write on our chart paper, completely fulfilling our role as the visionary thinkers who ask good questions, but take a minute to get down to business.

I thought about this activity this week, the last of our first quarter. A last-minute schedule change granted us two half-days for students at the end of the week, which our administration thankfully allowed us to use at our professional discretion, for grading, planning, and, in my case, standing in the middle of my room trying to picture how in the heck I could make things better for my students and me in the coming quarter.

Last year, my first as a classroom teacher in New Orleans, was spent in with the oldest students in our elementary school, the eighth graders. It was a challenging year to be sure — top-heavy district bureaucracy, teacher turnover, and a potent combination of low literacy skills and overage students — but when I turned in the last cumulative folder, I felt proud of what my students and I had accomplished.

This year, armed with new confidence from a year’s experience, I moved down to fourth grade, which proved more challenging than I ever imagined. As I watched students struggle with my oral and written directions, ignore my posted rules and slog through assignments, it seemed that what I learned last year was totally inapplicable. In addition, The Recovery School District, which I wrote about in my last post, “Starting Over (Again) in New Orleans, has adopted an extended school day from 7:45-4:30. This includes a 90-minute planning period, but I still spent the first month of the year feeling as if I was treading water, with never enough time or energy to make all the parent calls, organize all the binders, or grade all the crinkled homework packets on my desk.

I recently came across a comment from a fellow teacher on a New Orleans education forum, who wrote that teaching in extended day must be like “driving on a four lane metro highway with cars whirling around you for nine hours.” I thought the comparison was pretty spot on.

An average day begins around 7:00, when I arrive and take care of any prep work I can before the students begin arriving from the buses at 7:30. At 7:45, I escort my class to the cafeteria for breakfast — nearly 100 percent of our students qualify for federal free lunch programs, so breakfast, lunch and afternoon snacks are provided. By 8:00, I’ve already won or lost several battles — the battle of the straight line, the tucked in shirt, the assigned seat. I teach my homeroom for two 90-minute blocks before lunch — Scholastic’s Reading Intervention program, Read 180, followed by a core curriculum of English Language Arts. During the course of these three literacy-focused hours, which repeat with my second class after lunch, my students and I have to make hundreds of decisions that all affect the tone and progress of our classroom. In a usual class period, my teaching is driven by the demands of the class — who’s getting it, who’s ready to move on, who’s saying unkind things about whom, not to mention the broken computer and the lost permission slip — with occasional detours for an impromptu parent conference, a question from the school counselor, or, worst case scenario, a fight or chaotic outburst.

It’s not that my students, my New Orleans public school students, are incapable of positive behavior or quality academics. During a recent state assembly which honored Craig’s own Lynn Foy, a recipient of the prestigious Milken Foundation Educator Award, the 450 students of Craig School were attentive and respectful, proudly raising their hands and calling out answers when prompted from the podium by R.S.D. Superintendent Paul Vallas and State Superintendent Paul Pastorek. The minor misbehaviors are the stuff of any teacher’s busy day, no matter where or who they teach. It’s the major problems — the grudge-fueled fights, the students who come to me at nine or 10 years old who cannot read the word “read” — that signal long-standing deficits in a culture not known for valuing traditional education for poor children.

These are problems that require careful thought and vision, sometimes more than I seem to have on hand. How, for instance, do you manage a child’s violent behavior when the child is being told to fight by their own parents? How do you prepare students for a rigorous state assessment when even the directions are above their current reading level?

I returned to questions like these during those two half days in my room. It was a chance to get off the highway and refocus my vision on the big picture, on what I was here to do — raise student achievement — and how to do it better. As I paged through my student’s binders to give them a notebook grade, I came up with an idea to explicitly teach them to organize their work. It was a little thing, but I hadn’t been able to see it through the daily traffic of instruction, feedback, management, and administration.

I decided to teach in New Orleans because it’s a city I love living in. Born, reborn, and born again by visionaries — New Orleans is that rare American place that looks like an entirely different place to different people, depending on what you’re looking for. In my New Orleans — in my school — my speculative-thinking self sees great potential in high expectations and positive school culture. The challenge lies in keeping that vision alive and making it tangible for my students — minute by minute and day by day, but also year to year as they connect elementary school to high school to higher education.

We are creating our own maps as we rebuild here in New Orleans. My hope is that the students we teach will soon lead the way.

As part of its effort to support and share effective practices and ideas, The Wallace Foundation announced a $1.2 million grant to the Los Angeles County Arts Commission (LACAC) to advance the region's six-year-old coordinated arts education initiative, Arts for All, and a $600,000 planning grant to the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) to support development of a second 10-year plan for arts education to build on its first successful decade of expanding arts instruction throughout the district.

Local District 3 is the Crenshaw, Dorsey, Hamilton, LACES, Los Angeles, University, Venice and Westchester High School attendance areas including their middle and elementary feeders and Marlton, McBride and Widney Special Education Schools

●●4LAKIDS READERS: An apology: This has nothing to do with public education in Los Angeles; it has everything to do with public education in Los Angeles.

The BBC in its archive has the only known recording of Woolf delivering this essay. There are English Teachers among the readership, and English Majors. There are English Students and to them this gift for All Hallows and Dia de los Muertes.

October 27, 2008 -- A month into the new school year, 8-year-old Nathan Geddie and five of his classmates were removed from their third-grade classroom at Calvert Street Elementary School in Woodland Hills.

The students were told they were well-behaved and smart - and would be placed in a class with second-graders.

A letter to parents explained that the combination second- and third-grade class was for gifted students. However, parents later learned the class was created to ensure state funding that provides more than $1,000 per student in classes of 20 or fewer.

The Fair Political Practices Commission warned that many government agencies are “pushing the limits with public outreach programs clearly biased or slanted in their presentation of facts relating to a ballot measure”.

25.OCT.08 -- Some local governmental agencies are walking a fine line when it comes to using taxpayer dollars to send out political mailers, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.

The largest school bond in state history is also the fifth in 11 years for L.A. Unified.

October 27, 2008 -- The case for $7-billion Measure Q, the largest local school bond in state history, goes something like this: Now that the school district has built dozens of new campuses, it needs and deserves more dollars to fix up the old ones.

Alan Greenspan has been discredited in a flood of mea-culpas; a desperate nation looks about for a new Oracle of Wall Street to make sense of the economy.

In a "pop quiz" interview with Suze Orman, the omnipresent blonde and tanned self styled “one-woman financial-advice powerhouse” - the October-November '08 Edutopia gives us this exchange as we grasp at straws for meaning in the ongoing fiscal and credit crisis.

Edutopia: Did you go to public school, or private school?

Orman: A public, inner-city school.

E: What was your favorite subject?

O: Math, absolutely -- math.

E: If you could change one thing about education in America, what would it be?

O: Easy: the cost and quality.

●●smf’s 2¢:We stopped reading here. Cost and Quality are two things. Math is first+foremost about counting things, we learned that from the Count on Sesame Street.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

From the LA Times Homeroom Blog by Howard Blume

10:52 PM, October 28, 2008 -- Here's some breaking political news out of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Two-term school board member Marlene Canter, 60, will not seek a third term, the Times learned Tuesday night.

Her decision, which she characterized as purely personal, leaves the contest for her Westside seat wide open.

Canter was best known for leading efforts to ban sodas and junk food, while also improving the nutrition, taste and accessibility of school breakfasts and lunches. As other accomplishments, she also points to an increased focus on academic accountability and improved test scores as well as the district's massive school construction program.

Canter, who owned a successful teacher-training business, financed her own initial bid for office and was never regarded as beholden to various political interests that have tried to control the seven-member school board.

●●smf's2¢: Blume misses Marlene's most important effort: As President of the Board of Education she led the fight against AB1381 and the mayor’s attempt to take over LAUSD. She led that fight in the state legislature, she led the fight in the courts and she led the fight in the war of public opinion — and she never, never, never gave up .

She was relentless in the legislature, where the mayor held and played all the cards masterfully; she lost be three votes.

She was relentless in War of Public Opinion – she was everywhere - against a charismatic and popular mayor who was never able to muster the popular support he mistakenly believed he had.

She was relentless in the courts, where the cause prevailed and the takeover attempt was proved unconstitutional and morally and legally wrong.

Marlene was not alone in these efforts, like a true leader she is pragmatic, a consensus builder and a shaper of opinion – she led from the middle alongside Superintendent Romer, a majority of the Board of Education, General Counsel Kevin Reed and a consortium of partners including the League of Women Voters, The California School Boards Association, AALA, PTA, other parents and Congressperson Maxine Waters.

When the fight was over she did her best to pick up the pieces and repair relationships with her opponents. The word ‘relentless’ appears three times previous, if Marlene relented here it was not from weakness but in strength.

Of all the recent boardmembers Marlene has the singular distinction of being a businessperson; she had made and balanced budgets and met payrolls in the private sector. She had made money in education and improved the training of teachers and learning of children in doing so – there is no shame and indeed great honor in that. She was also an educator and understood how the business model and the education mission could fit together to benefit the kids – not the system or the bottom line.

Marlene would argue that her legacy is about improving instruction and nutrition; the futures, the health and well being of LAUSD schoolchildren …and she would be right.

In rereading the above I can only add that the parts in the past tense remain true in the present and hopefully into the future. This is neither a eulogy nor an elegy - 4LAKids wishes Marlene the best in her future endeavors; this school district and its children are better for her service.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

LOS ANGELES, Calif., Oct. 28 (AScribe Newswire) -- Building on its longstanding effort to expand participation in the arts, The Wallace Foundation has announced grants to two Los Angeles arts learning initiatives to support activities crucial to strengthening coordinated arts learning efforts and to bring high-quality arts experiences to more young people in Los Angeles County.

As part of its effort to support and share effective practices and ideas, The Wallace Foundation announced a $1.2 million grant to the Los Angeles County Arts Commission (LACAC) to advance the region's six-year-old coordinated arts education initiative, Arts for All, and a $600,000 planning grant to the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) to support development of a second 10-year plan for arts education to build on its first successful decade of expanding arts instruction throughout the district. Both initiatives will be studied by the Foundation to document and share lessons with the field about how communities can improve arts learning throughout school districts.

The Foundation chose Los Angeles after conducting a nationwide scan to identify communities with noteworthy efforts coordinating resources to improve arts learning, with committed school district personnel and representatives of cultural organizations and the demonstrated support of local funders.

"We believe every child - and our broader society - benefits from high-quality arts learning and that arts education deserves a secure place in our communities. Arts learning can enhance a child's ability to learn how to learn; it can develop skills of persistence and teamwork; it can enhance the school experience for students -- sustaining their interest and enthusiasm for learning; and it can nurture empathy and foster imagination through experiences that the arts uniquely provide," said Wallace Foundation President M. Christine DeVita. "Although fragile, community wide coordinated efforts are showing success in improving access to arts learning. We hope our work with leaders in Los Angeles to support the LACAC and LAUSD initiatives, and our investment in research, will yield useful knowledge about how communities across the country can deliver high-quality arts experiences to more young people."

"The Wallace Foundation gift will play a crucial role in propelling Arts for All forward and bringing quality arts education to more students," said Chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Yvonne B. Burke. "Arts education is a key ingredient in preparing students to work in today's creative economy and to assume leadership positions in the community. That Wallace has recognized the considerable achievements of Arts for All and made a visionary investment in the initiative is most satisfying. We thank The Wallace Foundation not only for its magnificent gift but for entrusting Los Angeles County with a key role in insuring that every public school student receives a quality arts education."

"It is gratifying to receive national acknowledgment of the long-standing efforts in Los Angeles Unified School District to re-instate dance, music, theatre, visual arts and media arts into every classroom, in every school, for every student from kindergarten to graduation," said Richard Burrows, LAUSD Director of Arts Education. LAUSD Superintendent David L Brewer commented, "We are inspired by the opportunity afforded by The Wallace Foundation gift to move us closer to the guarantee of every Angelino student's right to a comprehensive, coherent, sequential arts education. LAUSD is proud to be a national partner with The Wallace Foundation and a community collaborator with the Los Angeles County Arts Commission."

Los Angeles County Arts Commission: Arts for All:

The $1.2 million Wallace grant will enable Arts for All to build on the achievements of its first six years by expanding its ability to increase the impact of the arts in classrooms. The strategies the grant supports call for deepening Arts for All's partnerships with the 28 Los Angeles County school districts which joined the initiative 2003-08 and strengthening advocacy for arts education.

Several new elements will be added to the technical assistance provided by Arts for All to help the districts realize the goal of providing equitable access to quality arts education for students. These include coaching customized to meet district-specific needs and building a national cadre of specialist coaches to augment local expertise; the creation of a Leadership Fellows program to enhance the arts education knowledge of district leaders; and the launch of a comprehensive professional development program to increase the capacity of arts coordinators and teachers to deliver quality arts instruction.

To empower local stakeholders to advocate for arts education, community arts teams, which are formed in Arts for All districts to develop policies, plans and budgets, will receive advocacy training and transition to advocacy teams to monitor the implementation of district long range plans and hold decision makers accountable for delivering quality arts education to students.

Los Angeles Unified School District:

The $600,000 planning grant to the Los Angeles Unified School District will support research on current arts instructional practices that involve arts teachers, classroom teachers and the arts community, a precursor to devising ways to improve the effectiveness of K-12 arts instruction and to deepen and expand arts instruction to all students. The grant will support efforts to broaden community support for sustainable, high quality arts learning, including effective methods to enlist teachers, administrators, arts and cultural institutions, colleges/universities and parents in the creation of the second 10-year plan.

There are two primary components to the Wallace "Arts for Young People Initiative" at LAUSD. The first major component involves the convening of 7 separate constituency groups to consider, think, plan and make recommendations for the second 10-year plan for arts education in the district. These convening groups include teachers, arts teachers, large budget arts organizations, post-secondary and pre-service colleges/universities, arts/culture/service organizations, public education administrators, national arts experts and the general public and parents.

The second component is the retrieval of essential information and data related to the implementation of arts education for all students. At the elementary level, careful consideration of the implementation of the K-5 arts instructional guide from 8 case studies will be analyzed for effective use to meet the needs of all students in various education situations. At the secondary level, a thorough analysis of selected feeder families of schools to detail the arts instructional opportunities articulated from Kindergarten through Grade Twelve.

At the conclusion of the planning work and data analysis, recommendations will be revealed in a culminating conference for stakeholders and the public. These recommendations will serve as the backbone for initiating a Board of Education resolution and operational plan for the district 2010-2020 efforts in the arts.

The Wallace Foundation: The Wallace Foundation is an independent, national foundation dedicated to supporting and sharing effective ideas and practices that expand learning and enrichment opportunities for all people. Its three current objectives are: strengthening education leadership to improve student achievement; enhancing out-of-school learning opportunities; and expanding participation in arts and culture. More information and research on these and other related topics can be found at The Wallace Foundation Knowledge Center at http://www.wallacefoundation.org/ .

LACAC: The Los Angeles County Arts Commission, Laura Zucker, Executive Director, provides leadership in cultural services of all disciplines for the largest county in the United States, encompassing 88 municipalities. The Arts Commission, in addition to providing leadership and staffing to support the regional blueprint for arts education, Arts for All, administers a grants program that funds more than 300 nonprofit arts organizations annually; oversees the County's Civic Art Program for capital projects, funds the largest arts internship program in the country in conjunction with the Getty Foundation, programs the John Anson Ford Theatres and supports the Los Angeles County Cultural Calendar on ExperienceLA.com. The Commission also produces free community programs, including the L.A. Holiday Celebration broadcast nationally, and a year-round music program that funds more than 50 free concerts each year in public sites. The 2008-09 President of the Arts Commission is Betty Haagen.

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is the second largest school district in the United States with more than 694,000 students in Los Angeles and neighboring communities. Encompassing 710 square miles, the LAUSD is geographically divided into eight Local Districts, oversees 1,190 schools and centers, and employs almost 84,000 people. The culturally diverse district, in which 90 languages are spoken, is governed by the seven-member Los Angeles Board of Education and manages an annual budget of nearly $14 billion.

Local District 3 is the Crenshaw, Dorsey, Hamilton, LACES, Los Angeles, University, Venice and Westchester High School attendance areas including their middle and elementary feeders and Marlton, McBride and Widney Special Education Schools.

Educators say Arnold Schwarzenegger told them to prepare for immediate cuts of $2 billion to $4 billion. They say the governor also plans to keep pushing for a sales tax hike. "For virtually every district I know of, this would be catastrophic," said Scott Plotkin, executive director of the California School Boards Assn.

By Evan Halper and Nancy Vogel | LA Times Staff Writers

October 29, 2008 -- Reporting from Sacramento -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told education leaders Tuesday that he would push for a tax hike and deep cuts to schools to help close the state's yawning budget gap, according to several participants in a meeting with him.

The news, delivered in a conference room outside the governor's office, came as a shock to the educators, who were told to prepare for immediate cuts in the range of $2 billion to $4 billion.

"There is just no way we would be able to cut that much," said Scott Plotkin, executive director of the California School Boards Assn., who was at the meeting. "For virtually every district I know of, this would be catastrophic."

Administration officials confirmed that the meeting took place but refused to discuss details.

"We never talk about the governor's private meetings," said Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear.

Several educators who were present said the governor stated clearly that he would renew his push for a sales tax hike in the special legislative session that is scheduled to begin next week. The governor unsuccessfully championed a temporary increase in sales taxes during the summer budget debate.

After the meeting, California Assn. of School Business Officials Vice President Renee Hendrick and Executive Director Brian Lewis sent an e-mail to members quoting the governor as saying, "I don't like raising taxes, but this is a moment when we have to."

Lewis elaborated in an interview: "He said we're in a very serious time and we're not looking at a swift upturn."

Analysts say early data indicate that the state budget -- passed only a month ago -- has fallen about $10 billion into the red. A deficit that size represents nearly 10% of all general fund spending. The governor and lawmakers say the rapid swelling of the deficit is related to the recent plunge of the stock market and the broader economic troubles gripping the nation.

The governor has announced that he will call sitting lawmakers -- whose terms end Nov. 30 -- back to Sacramento next week to deal with the shortfall.

Political strategists have said the governor stands a greater chance of pushing through new taxes with the lame-duck Legislature, which includes several members who are leaving office this year, than with the group to be elected Nov. 4.

School officials say that making billions of dollars of cuts in the middle of a school year would be devastating.

Los Angeles Unified School District Supt. David L. Brewer said that Schwarzenegger's proposal would cost the district as much as $440 million. He called cuts of that magnitude "impossible."

"They're going to have to go out and borrow money because we'd go bankrupt," Brewer said. "Fiscally, we can't do that without literally having to shut down schools."

By law, teachers cannot be fired unless they are told months in advance.

The looming cuts for L.A. Unified would follow $190 million pared last year.

The district also had to borrow $550 million last summer to get by while the Legislature and governor were deadlocked over a state budget.

On Monday, Brewer sent all L.A. Unified employees a letter warning them that "California's financial picture is getting worse every day" and "without substantial, systematic, responsible districtwide cuts and help from Sacramento, LAUSD will not be able to make payroll by the end of next school year."

Brewer said he had convened a blue-ribbon committee to find ways to generate more revenue for the district, including putting billboards on freeway-facing schools, which could generate $20,000 to $30,000 a month.

School officials statewide issued thousands of pink slips when the budget was being negotiated earlier in the year, bracing for multibillion-dollar cuts proposed by the governor.

But they were told by the governor and lawmakers that the state would provide enough money to avoid them.

"They told us not to do layoffs, because they would solve our problems," said Kevin Gordon, a lobbyist who represents hundreds of school districts. "Then they put together a budget with fake numbers. . . . I don't know how schools would keep their doors open with cuts of this magnitude."

Schwarzenegger told the officials that even if lawmakers approved a sales tax hike, deep cuts to schools may be unavoidable. The temporary one cent-on-the-dollar sales tax hike the governor had earlier proposed, which was blocked by legislative Republicans, would close only a fraction of the shortfall.

School officials say the governor is focused on the sales tax because it is one of the few available sources of new revenue that would create immediate cash. Other potential tax hikes, such as increased income taxes for the wealthy, would not boost state coffers for more than a year, when taxpayers begin to file under the new rates.

GOP legislative leaders predicted that their caucuses would continue to stand firm against a tax hike.

They suggested that school cuts could be averted by moving money out of other parts of the budget.

"The last thing Republicans want to do is take money out of classrooms," said Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines of Clovis.

"There are plenty of fast-growing programs that should be looked at first. . . . Raising taxes is not on the table. Raising taxes on hard-working Californians is the worst thing we could do in this bad economy when many people are losing their jobs, their homes and are struggling to make ends meet."

Schwarzenegger calls back legislators for emergency budget session

With California's revenue plummeting, the governor says lawmakers will reconvene next week. They will discuss solutions to the foreclosure crisis and an economic stimulus package.

By Evan Halper | LA Times Staff Writer

October 28, 2008 -- Reporting from Sacramento -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has set Nov. 5 -- the day after next week's election -- as the start of an emergency legislative session to address the state budget deficit, which has swelled by several billion dollars in recent weeks as the stock market has continued its tumble and the economy has soured.

Schwarzenegger said this year's deficit will be "much more" than the $3 billion that state officials projected two weeks ago. Capitol budget analysts say preliminary data indicate the problem will probably grow to at least $10 billion.

The governor and legislative leaders made the announcement to reporters in the hallway outside Schwarzenegger's office, where they had been meeting in private to discuss the fiscal crisis. They said that in the coming days they also will form a commission to study ways to restructure the state tax code to make revenue more stable

Schwarzenegger's move comes a month after lawmakers passed the current budget and adjourned until December, when the next class of lawmakers is scheduled to begin work. But the governor said state revenues are dropping so fast that he and legislative leaders decided to call a lame-duck session.

"The situation is far more severe than it was when we were negotiating the budget" over the summer, Schwarzenegger said.

At that time, experts had warned that the spending plan lawmakers were drafting was optimistic.

"They ignored the obvious," said Christopher Thornberg, principal at Beacon Economics. "They refused to recognize we were heading into this painful recession. It wasn't rocket science."

The state's problems are being compounded by the stock market bust. State revenues are expected to suffer substantially as a result of the carnage on Wall Street.

Relative to other states, California gets a disproportionate share of its revenue from the personal income taxes of the wealthy. The richest 1% of Californians pay half of all the personal income taxes the state collects each year.

"A lot of those folks receive much of their income from capital gains," said H.D. Palmer, deputy director of external affairs for the state Department of Finance.

When the stock market falters and capital gains fall off, state income plummets. This month the Standard and Poor's 500 Index has dropped 24%.

The state also relies heavily on sales taxes. Economists are predicting that those receipts will also take a dive as consumers tighten their belts.

The governor said he opted to bring sitting lawmakers back to town rather than wait for the new class because "they have dealt with the problem throughout the year." Some analysts have suggested that the governor stands a better chance of pushing through a temporary tax hike -- something he tried but failed to do during the summer -- with the current crop of lawmakers, because several are termed out of office and will not be part of a newly elected Legislature.

Republican leaders say their caucuses will continue to block any tax increase as they did in summer. They handed the governor a letter Monday calling for tax cuts.

The legislators proposed new tax breaks for a range of companies, including those involved in manufacturing, building new facilities in California and hiring out-of-work Californians.

"California has one of the highest tax rates on business in the nation," wrote Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines of Clovis and Senate Republican Leader Dave Cogdill of Modesto. "With the tight credit market and worldwide economic turmoil, we must help California businesses to create, retain and expand job opportunities."

Legislators will no doubt be forced to weigh steep program cuts as part of the special session. The estimated shortfall already has grown so large -- $10 billion is nearly 10% of the general fund -- that even the sales tax hike the governor proposed earlier in the year would erase only a fraction of it.

In their special session, lawmakers will also consider proposals to deal with the state's foreclosure crisis, and an economic stimulus package designed to create more jobs in the state. One way to do that, legislative leaders and the governor said, would be to speed up allocation of public-works bond money already approved by voters. They are also seeking billions of dollars in relief from Washington, D.C., some of which could take the form of extended unemployment benefits for Californians out of work.

"California's tax structure was set up at the beginning of the last century," Bass said. "We know it needs to be modernized."

Several previous attempts to overhaul the tax code have been rejected. Experts say lawmakers easily find taxes to cut but can rarely agree on how to replace the lost revenue.

Special Session on California State Budget: Governor Will Call Session Nov 5th

• Budget Deficit Grows As Revenues Drop

• Spending On Programs Impacting People With Disabilities, Mental Health Needs, Seniors And Children Vulnerable For Major Permanent Cuts

By Marty D. Omoto in The California Progress Report

28 October 2008 -- Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will call a special session of the Legislature next week, likely on November 5th (Wednesday) to address the State’s growing budget deficit that has reportedly swelled to over $3 billion and growing. The Governor is expected any day to issue an official order calling the special session.

It is not certain what proposals the Governor will make to the Legislature to address the worsening State budget situation, though many advocates fear major spending cuts to programs impacting children and adults with disabilities, mental health needs, seniors, low income children, and families, organizations, facilities and workers who provide supports and services.

Also vulnerable is spending on public education in general that could impact special education.

Senate and Assembly Republican leaders were adamant this past year against any tax increases during bad economic times – and they remain opposed to any such increases to bridge a growing budget shortfall. That would mean any proposal by the Governor or the Democrats, in order to win the needed Republican votes to pass any proposal during the special session, would have to focus on permanent cuts and ways to improve revenues without taxes

The news comes just weeks after the Governor signed the long delayed State budget on September 23rd, after a three month stand-off and comes less than 11 weeks before the Governor must present his proposed budget for 2009-2010 on January 10th.

The Governor used his line item veto power to cut hundreds of millions of dollars of spending impacting a wide range of programs and services impacting seniors, on top of cuts the Legislature approved.

The Governor and legislative leaders met yesterday and several times earlier this month to consider next steps in addressing the financial crisis impacting California, including the worsening budget situation.

NEXT STEPS

GOVERNOR

* Only the Governor has authority under the State Constitution to call a special session of the Legislature for certain specific reasons. The Legislature must meet - but they are not required by the State Constitution to act. The Governor will likely present the Legislature with proposals to address the growing budget deficit.

* Governor also has authority under the State Constitution to declare - as he did last January - a "fiscal (budget) emergency" that requires the Legislature to respond within 45 days. It is not likely he will do so at this point however, given the time frames.

* Under a “fiscal emergency” called by the Governor, if the Legislature fails to send a bill or bills addressing the emergency to him within 45 days, the State Constitution doesn't give much authority to force them to act - especially at this point in the year. If the Legislature does not act (meaning does not send a bill or bills addressing the fiscal emergency) then it cannot pass other bills or adjourn in recess. The Legislature has no bills to act on or pass during the fall and really will not have any to act on regular session bills until February next year. LEGISLATURE

* The Legislature finished its work on regular bills as of August 30th, and came back into session in September because of the State Budget.

* Except for this year, the Legislature has never before met beyond its August 30th adjournment date during the second year of the Legislative session. The Legislature must send any bill to the Governor on or before November 15th.

* New members of the Legislature will be elected November 1th though they will not take office until December

* Current legislators who are termed out of office, including Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata (Democrat - Oakland), or who are retiring for other reasons, serve until November 30th.

* New members elected in November take office the first week of December and will be sworn in at the State Capitol in brief sessions on Monday December 1.

* Governor’s call for a special session of the current Legislature means that they must meet and complete work before November 30th - the final day on the job for termed out or retiring legislators (the would have to present a bill to him on or before November 15th however, based on one read of the State Constitution.

* The Governor could call another special session in December sometime after the new Legislature is sworn in, though many observers feel the financial and budget crisis may need to be addressed much sooner than that.

Omoto is Director/Organizer of the California Disability Community Action Network

The California Disability Community Action Network, is a non-partisan link to thousands of Californians with developmental and other disabilities, people with traumatic brain injuries, the Blind, the Deaf, their families, community organizations and providers, direct care, homecare and other workers, and other advocates to provide information on state (and eventually federal), local public policy issues.

●●4LAKIDS READERS:An apology: This has nothing to do with public education in Los Angeles; it has everything to do with public education in Los Angeles.

The BBC in its archive has the only known recording of Woolf delivering this essay. The recording has been recently released, presented in another form in the posthumous collection, The Death of the Moth, and other essays.

There are English Teachers among the readership, and English Majors. There are English Students and to them this gift for All Hallows and Dia de los Muertes.

A broadcast on April 20th, 1937

The title of this series is “Words Fail Me,” and this particular talk is called “Craftsmanship.” We must suppose, therefore, that the talker is meant to discuss the craft of words—the craftsmanship of the writer. But there is something incongruous, unfitting, about the term “craftsmanship” when applied to words. The English dictionary, to which we always turn in moments of dilemma, confirms us in our doubts. It says that the word “craft” has two meanings; it means in the first place making useful objects out of solid matter—for example, a pot, a chair, a table. In the second place, the word “craft” means cajolery, cunning, deceit. Now we know little that is certain about words, but this we do know—words never make anything that is useful; and words are the only things that tell the truth and nothing but the truth. Therefore, to talk of craft in connection with words is to bring together two incongruous ideas, which if they mate can only give birth to some monster fit for a glass case in a museum. Instantly, therefore, the title of the talk must be changed, and for it substituted another—A Ramble round Words, perhaps. For when you cut off the head of a talk it behaves like a hen that has been decapitated. It runs round in a circle till it drops dead—so people say who have killed hens. And that must be the course, or circle, of this decapitated talk. Let us then take for our starting point the statement that words are not useful. This happily needs little proving, for we are all aware of it. When we travel on the Tube, for example, when we wait on the platform for a train, there, hung up in front of us, on an illuminated signboard, are the words “Passing Russell Square.” We look at those words; we repeat them; we try to impress that useful fact upon our minds; the next train will pass Russell Square. We say over and over again as we pace, “Passing Russell Square, passing Russell Square.” And then as we say them, the words shuffle and change, and we find ourselves saying, “Passing away saith the world, passing away. . . . The leaves decay and fall, the vapours weep their burthen to the ground. Man comes. . . .” And then we wake up and find ourselves at King’s Cross.

Take another example. Written up opposite us in the railway carriage are the words: “Do not lean out of the window.” At the first reading the useful meaning, the surface meaning, is conveyed; but soon, as we sit looking at the words, they shuffle, they change; and we begin saying, “Windows, yes windows—casements opening on the foam of perilous seas in faery lands forlorn.” And before we know what we are doing, we have leant out of the window; we are looking for Ruth in tears amid the alien corn. The penalty for that is twenty pounds or a broken neck.

This proves, if it needs proving, how very little natural gift words have for being useful. If we insist on forcing them against their nature to be useful, we see to our cost how they mislead us, how they fool us, how they land us a crack on the head. We have been so often fooled in this way by words, they have so often proved that they hate being useful, that it is their nature not to express one simple statement but a thousand possibilities—they have done this so often that at last, happily, we are beginning to face the fact. We are beginning to invent another language —a language perfectly and beautifully adapted to express useful statements, a language of signs. There is one great living master of this language to whom we are all indebted, that anonymous writer—whether man, woman or disembodied spirit nobody knows—who describes hotels in the Michelin Guide. He wants to tell us that one hotel is moderate, another good, and a third the best in the place. How does he do it? Not with words; words would at once bring into being shrubberies and billiard tables, men and women, the moon rising and the long splash of the summer sea—all good things, but all here beside the point. He sticks to signs; one gable; two gables; three gables. That is all he says and all he needs to say. Baedeker carries the sign language still further into the sublime realms of art. When he wishes to say that a picture is good, he uses one star; if very good, two stars; when, in his opinion, it is a work of transcendent genius, three black stars shine on the page, and that is all. So with a handful of stars and daggers the whole of art criticism, the whole of literary criticism could be reduced to the size of a sixpenny bit—there are moments when one could wish it. But this suggests that in time to come writers will have two languages at their service; one for fact, one for fiction. When the biographer has to convey a useful and necessary fact, as, for example, that Oliver Smith went to college and took a third in the year 1892, he will say so with a hollow 0 on top of the figure five. When the novelist is forced to inform us that John rang the bell after a pause the door was opened by a parlourmaid who said, “Mrs. Jones is not at home,” he will to our great gain and his own comfort convey that repulsive statement not in words, but in signs—say, a capital H on top of the figure three. Thus we may look forward to the day when our biographies and novels will be slim and muscular; and a railway company that says: “Do not lean out of the window” in words will be fined a penalty not exceeding five pounds for the improper use of language.

Words, then, are not useful. Let us now enquire into their other quality, their positive quality, that is, their power to tell the truth. According once more to the dictionary there are at least three kinds of truth God’s or gospel truth; literary truth; and home truth (generally. unflattering). But to consider each separately would take too long. Let us then simplify and assert that since the only test of truth is length of life, and since words survive the chops and changes of time longer than any other substance, therefore they are the truest. Buildings fall; even the earth perishes. What was yesterday a cornfield is to–day a bungalow. But words, if properly used, seem able to live for ever. What, then, we may ask next, is the proper use of words? Not, so we have said, to make a useful statement; for a useful statement is a statement that can mean only one thing. And it is the nature of words to mean many things. Take the simple sentence “Passing Russell Square.” That proved useless because besides the surface meaning it contained so many sunken meanings. The word “passing” suggested the transiency of things, the passing of time and the changes of human life. Then the word “Russell” suggested the rustling of leaves and the skirt on a polished floor also the ducal house of Bedford and half the history of England. Finally the word “Square” brings in the sight, the shape of an actual square combined with some visual suggestion of the stark angularity of stucco. Thus one sentence of the simplest kind rouses the imagination, the memory, the eye and the ear—all combine in reading it.

But they combine—they combine unconsciously together. The moment we single out and emphasize the suggestions as we have done here they become unreal; and we, too, become unreal—specialists, word mongers, phrase finders, not readers. In reading we have to allow the sunken meanings to remain sunken, suggested, not stated; lapsing and flowing into each other like reeds on the bed of a river. But the words in that sentence Passing Russell Square–are of course very rudimentary words. They show no trace of the strange, of the diabolical power which words possess when they are not tapped out by a typewriter but come fresh from a human brain—the power that is to suggest the writer; his character, his appearance, his wife, his family, his house—even the cat on the hearthrug. Why words do this, how they do it, how to prevent them from doing it nobody knows. They do it without the writer’s will; often against his will. No writer presumably wishes to impose his own miserable character, his own private secrets and vices upon the reader. But has any writer, who is not a typewriter, succeeded in being wholly impersonal? Always, inevitably, we know them as well as their books. Such is the suggestive power of words that they will often make a bad book into a very lovable human being, and a good book into a man whom we can hardly tolerate in the room. Even words that are hundreds of years old have this power; when they are new they have it so strongly that they deafen us to the writer’s meaning—it is them we see, them we hear. That is one reason why our judgments of living writers are so wildly erratic. Only after the writer is dead do his words to some extent become disinfected, purified of the accidents of the living body.

Now, this power of suggestion is one of the most mysterious properties of words. Everyone who has ever written a sentence must be conscious or half–conscious of it. Words, English words, are full of echoes, of memories, of associations—naturally. They have been out and about, on people’s lips, in their houses, in the streets, in the fields, for so many centuries. And that is one of the chief difficulties in writing them today—that they are so stored with meanings, with memories, that they have contracted so many famous marriages. The splendid word “incarnadine,” for example—who can use it without remembering also “multitudinous seas”? In the old days, of course, when English was a new language, writers could invent new words and use them. Nowadays it is easy enough to invent new words—they spring to the lips whenever we see a new sight or feel a new sensation—but we cannot use them because the language is old. You cannot use a brand new word in an old language because of the very obvious yet mysterious fact that a word is not a single and separate entity, but part of other words. It is not a word indeed until it is part of a sentence. Words belong to each other, although, of course, only a great writer knows that the word “incarnadine” belongs to “multitudinous seas.” To combine new words with old words is fatal to the constitution of the sentence. In order to use new words properly you would have to invent a new language; and that, though no doubt we shall come to it, is not at the moment our business. Our business is to see what we can do with the English language as it is. How can we combine the old words in new orders so that they survive, so that they create beauty, so that they tell the truth? That is the question.

And the person who could answer that question would deserve whatever crown of glory the world has to offer. Think what it would mean if you could teach, if you could learn, the art of writing. Why, every book, every newspaper would tell the truth, would create beauty. But there is, it would appear, some obstacle in the way, some hindrance to the teaching of words. For though at this moment at least a hundred professors are lecturing upon the literature of the past, at least a thousand critics are reviewing the literature of the present, and hundreds upon hundreds of young men and women are passing examinations in English literature with the utmost credit, still—do we write better, do we read better than we read and wrote four hundred years ago when we were unlectured, uncriticized, untaught? Is our Georgian literature a patch on the Elizabethan? Where then are we to lay the blame? Not on our professors; not on our reviewers; not on our writers; but on words. It is words that are to blame. They are the wildest, freest, most irresponsible, most unteachable of all things. Of course, you can catch them and sort them and place them in alphabetical order in dictionaries. But words do not live in dictionaries; they live in the mind. If you want proof of this, consider how often in moments of emotion when we most need words we find none. Yet there is the dictionary; there at our disposal are some half–a–million words all in alphabetical order. But can we use them? No, because words do not live in dictionaries, they live in the mind. Look again at the dictionary. There beyond a doubt lie plays more splendid than ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA; poems more lovely than the ODE TO A NIGHTINGALE; novels beside which PRIDE AND PREJUDICE or DAVID COPPERFIELD are the crude bunglings of amateurs. It is only a question of finding the right words and putting them in the right order. But we cannot do it because they do not live in dictionaries; they live in the mind. And how do they live in the mind? Variously and strangely, much as human beings live, by ranging hither and thither, by falling in love, and mating together. It is true that they are much less bound by ceremony and convention than we are. Royal words mate with commoners. English words marry French words, German words, Indian words, Negro words, if they have a fancy. Indeed, the less we enquire into the past of our dear Mother English the better it will be for that lady’s reputation. For she has gone a–roving, a–roving fair maid.

Thus to lay down any laws for such irreclaimable vagabonds is worse than useless. A few trifling rules of grammar and spelling are all the constraint we can put on them. All we can say about them, as we peer at them over the edge of that deep, dark and only fitfully illuminated cavern in which they live—the mind—all we can say about them is that they seem to like people to think and to feel before they use them, but to think and to feel not about them, but about something different. They are highly sensitive, easily made self–conscious. They do not like to have their purity or their impurity discussed. If you start a Society for Pure English, they will show their resentment by starting another for impure English—hence the unnatural violence of much modern speech; it is a protest against the puritans. They are highly democratic, too; they believe that one word is as good as another; uneducated words are as good as educated words, uncultivated words as cultivated words, there are no ranks or titles in their society. Nor do they like being lifted out on the point of a pen and examined separately. They hang together, in sentences, in paragraphs, sometimes for whole pages at a time. They hate being useful; they hate making money; they hate being lectured about in public. In short, they hate anything that stamps them with one meaning or confines them to one attitude, for it is their nature to change.

Perhaps that is their most striking peculiarity—their need of change. It is because the truth they try to catch is many–sided, and they convey it by being themselves many–sided, flashing this way, then that. Thus they mean one thing to one person, another thing to another person; they are unintelligible to one generation, plain as a pikestaff to the next. And it is because of this complexity that they survive. Perhaps then one reason why we have no great poet, novelist or critic writing to–day is that we refuse words their liberty. We pin them down to one meaning, their useful meaning, the meaning which makes us catch the train, the meaning which makes us pass the examination. And when words are pinned down they fold their wings and die. Finally, and most emphatically, words, like ourselves, in order to live at their ease, need privacy. Undoubtedly they like us to think, and they like us to feel, before we use them; but they also like us to pause; to become unconscious. Our unconsciousness is their privacy; our darkness is their light. . . . That pause was made, that veil of darkness was dropped, to tempt words to come together in one of those swift marriages which are perfect images and create everlasting beauty. But no—nothing of that sort is going to happen to–night. The little wretches are out of temper; disobliging; disobedient; dumb. What is it that they are muttering? “Time’s up! Silence!”

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

“But parents weren't a part of the discussion.”

By George B. Sanchez, Staff Writer | LA Daily News

8-year-old Nathan Geddie, a third grader, was placed in a second grade class at Calvert Street Elementary school in order to reduce classroom sizes. (David Crane/Staff Photographer)

October 27, 2008 -- A month into the new school year, 8-year-old Nathan Geddie and five of his classmates were removed from their third-grade classroom at Calvert Street Elementary School in Woodland Hills.

The students were told they were well-behaved and smart - and would be placed in a class with second-graders.

A letter to parents explained that the combination second- and third-grade class was for gifted students. However, parents later learned the class was created to ensure state funding that provides more than $1,000 per student in classes of 20 or fewer.

"Combination classes can be good, but in this case, it was a fiscal issue, not a philosophical one," said Judy Elliot, chief academic officer for the Los Angeles Unified School District.

A successful combo class requires a teacher who is familiar with each student's strengths, she said, and has the support of parents and students.

For Nathan, getting taken away from his friends and lining up with second-graders didn't feel like a promotion.

"I really didn't want to leave my third-grade class," he said.

About 13,220 elementary students are currently enrolled in 842 combination classes across the LAUSD.

Local District 1, which covers the west San Fernando Valley and includes Calvert Street Elementary, has 121 combination classes, the highest number for a single district in the LAUSD.

"This is very common, especially in the west San Fernando Valley, where the schools are small," said Roseanna Neustaedter, principal at Calvert.

It would be unusual for a school not to have a combo class, said Jean Brown, superintendent for Local District 1.

Distinct from magnet or gifted programs, combination classes in elementary school are typically created to maintain a 20-to-1 teaching ratio for kindergarten, first, second and third grades.

At $1,071 per student, LAUSD received $199.6 million last year to maintain small classes, said Rebecca Lee, of the California Department of Education fiscal services division.

If schools go above the 20-to-1 average for the year, the state will request a refund, Lee said.

Margo Pensavalle, an associate professor of education at the University of Southern California Rossier School of Education, said while combo classes are common across the country, the key to their success is differentiation, which means teachers recognize and accommodate the needs of individual students.

Pensavalle said her own children were placed in combination classes in elementary school.

"I like the possibilities in a combination class, but it has to be a teacher committed to knowing the kids and meeting their needs," Pensavalle said. "It's always my concern kids don't get the right curriculum."

Neustaedter said Nathan and his classmates were selected based on their ability to work independently and collaboratively.

But parents weren't a part of the discussion.

Nathan's parents, Paul and Katrina, found out about the combo class through a letter from Neustaedter.

"It was handed to us by our son at the end of the day after he spent the whole day in the second-grade classroom," Katrina Geddie said.

Like the Geddies, Patrina Stewart learned through a letter that her son, William, would be in a combo class.

Last year, William spent at least two hours a day on a bus to attend a magnet school in Brentwood.

The education was good, but Stewart chose against another year of commuting and decided to send William to Calvert.

But the combo class caused her to question her decision.

"I made the biggest mistake of my life taking my baby out of a gifted school, and he gets this," she said.

The Stewarts and Geddies were afraid their sons would not receive third-grade level work.

Eight-year-old William said he and his family should have been asked before he was moved.

"They should have said, `Do you want your student to be in the second-grade class?"' he said.

While teachers and Neustaedter insisted the third-graders would get the appropriate education despite sitting in a second-grade classroom, parents of the six children were outraged. They contacted school board members and district officials and even considered filing a discrimination complaint.

Last week, school officials reversed their decision and returned the six children to a third-grade class.

"I am pleased they listened to me and the other parents, and Calvert Street reversed their decision," Patrina Stewart said.

Madelyne Coopersmith, the elementary school director for Local District 1, said the move could cost the school small-class-size funds.

But money shouldn't be play into education decisions, Paul Geddie said.

"This is unjust. We shouldn't sacrifice some children for money, and I don't think that was the intent of the law either," he said.

Parental pressure was part of the school's reversal.

"I wish every parent would advocate as strong as the Calvert parents," Elliot said.

Monday, October 27, 2008

LOS ANGELES WAVE NEWSPAPERS from CITY NEWS SERVICE

The Fair Political Practices Commission warned that many government agencies are “pushing the limits with public outreach programs clearly biased or slanted in their presentation of facts relating to a ballot measure”.

25.OCT.08 -- Some local governmental agencies are walking a fine line when it comes to using taxpayer dollars to send out political mailers, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.

The Los Angeles Unified School District mailed voters two weeks ago what officials described as a “fact sheet’’ on Measure Q, a $7-billion construction bond on the Nov. 4 ballot. While the district is forbidden from saying how to vote, the mailer says “Measure Q Improves School Safety,’’ “Measure Q Improves the Learning Environment” and “Measure Q is Fiscally Accountable.”

The district also put together a six-paragraph script about Measure Q for principals to read in “phone blasts” to parents. It spent $21,000 on hats and T-shirts, saying “Measure Q,” distributing them on school campuses.

A 2005 court ruling states that governmental institutions can distribute information on ballot measures, as long as it does not include “express advocacy.”

The Times found at least eight Southern California agencies using taxpayer money for outreach campaigns about measures that would benefit them.

In advance of this year’s election in Lynwood, the city posted a five-minute video on its Web site discussing Measure II, a proposal to retain a local utility users tax.

The practice also produced some internal dissent at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which spent $1.1 million on brochures, newspaper ads and radio spots on Measure R, the half-cent sales tax hike for transportation.

The Los Angeles Unified School District’s $1 million campaign that includes three mailers sent to 450,000 likely voters. Two of three are just short of an endorsement.

But one hitting the mail this week says: “This November 4th, remember to vote on Measure Q.’’ Experts say that crosses a legal line, resembling the campaign brochures typically sent by political committees and paid for by private contributors.

“This piece clearly takes a position,” said Kathay Feng, executive director of the political reform group California Common Cause. “It is not just a quote-unquote educational piece.”

Foes of Measure Q said the taxpayer-funded mailers should have mentioned that this is the district’s fifth bond measure in 11 years and that the four prior bonds will eventually cost homeowners $185 per year for each $100,000 that their homes are assessed, the Times reported.

“You can quibble about what it is that you ought to put in” a mailer, said Michael Strumwasser, a lawyer for the LAUSD. “I don’t understand that as a matter of law, you are obligated to tell them how many bonds you have had.”

Earlier this year, the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission warned that many government agencies are “pushing the limits with public outreach programs clearly biased or slanted in their presentation of facts relating to a ballot measure.’’

The FPPC is considering a rule that would define any public money used to communicate about a ballot measure as a political expenditure, unless it provides a fair and impartial presentation of facts.

In Long Beach Unified, school officials spent $46,000 on a mailer that discusses Measure K, a $1.2-billion bond measure to pay for classroom repairs. That mailer went to 80,000 likely voters, according to district spokesman Chris Eftychiou.

LOCAL ELECTIONS

$7-billion Measure Q would fund school construction and modernization

The largest school bond in state history is also the fifth in 11 years for L.A. Unified.

By Howard Blume From the Los Angeles Times

October 27, 2008 -- The case for $7-billion Measure Q, the largest local school bond in state history, goes something like this: Now that the school district has built dozens of new campuses, it needs and deserves more dollars to fix up the old ones.

Exhibit A for this argument is brand-new Helen Bernstein High in Hollywood, with a pool, dance studio, energy-efficient windows, the latest in computers, ceiling-mounted projectors, up-to-date science labs and a sprinkler-cooled artificial turf playing field.

In contrast, at Hollenbeck Middle School, east of downtown, students endure noisy air conditioners, an asphalt playground, an undersized gym, windows painted over to reduce glare and science labs without student work stations. Conditions are more make-do than state-of-the-art.

"We tell these kids that schooling is about their future, and then we put them in spaces that need dramatic change," said Marshall Tuck, a top education advisor for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. "We need facilities that feel welcoming and are well-kept. What signal are we sending by the actual shape these buildings are in?"

Criticism of the bond focuses on the district's skyrocketing building costs, disagreements over priorities and the haste behind Measure Q itself, whose price tag more than doubled in the final days before the Board of Education placed it on the ballot July 31.

The fifth school bond in 11 years for the Los Angeles Unified School District, Measure Q will compete with other property tax increases on the November ballot.

For L.A. Unified, Measure Q represents a bid for a dependable longer-term funding stream for a $20.3-billion construction and modernization program, the nation's largest, which has so far delivered more than 75,000 classroom seats.

The stakes are clearly high.

Seven district representatives, including school board President Monica Garcia, were on hand this month for a Hollenbeck walk-through with a lone reporter. And because Hollenbeck is among 10 low-performing schools overseen by Villaraigosa, four members of his school-reform team, including Tuck, also took part.

Since 1997, when Los Angeles voters passed the first of four recent school bonds, the mission of the measures has evolved. In the first years, the money was used primarily to repair campuses that were falling apart in a school system that had last passed a bond in 1963. Then, the focus shifted mainly to constructing new schools.

By 2004, the objective became eliminating involuntary busing and year-round schedules that shorten students' academic year by 17 school days.

Although it also would establish funds for new buildings, Measure Q returns to the 1997 goal: fixing things up and ensuring the new stuff doesn't break down.

To be sure, conditions have improved, even at the district's older schools.

In the last decade, Hollenbeck has received $7.3 million in upgrades and repairs, covering painting, plumbing, lighting, fencing, flooring and more. Projects totaling an additional $4.2 million are in progress, including fire alarms, air conditioning and food-service upgrades. And even without a new bond, $370,000 in other work is scheduled.

But Tuck espouses an atmospheric upgrade -- from a school environment that, he said, appears to tolerate less than the best to one that inspires excellence. Hollenbeck's , he suggested, are partly a reflection of the school environment. Elevating the setting is especially vital to student success in gang-plagued and economically depressed areas, he said.

To provide individual attention, hundreds of millions of dollars would be used to convert existing campuses into clusters of small schools. Officials also designated $250 million to update cafeterias. The bond also includes $500 million for green technology such as renewable energy systems, $450 million for charter schools and about $2 billion for still-unspecified needs.

The bond's total doubled at the 11th hour as part of a Villaraigosa-backed compromise that provided more dollars to charter schools in exchange for charter leaders' agreement not to oppose the measure.

Critics, including longtime education activist Gene Krischer, said the bond's doubling epitomizes a program that has been too free-wheeling with other people's money.

"The kids are getting something, but I don't think they and the taxpayer are getting their money's worth," said Krischer, who tracks bond-oversight meetings on behalf of a Sierra Club chapter. "The district could be building at a more reasonable cost."

For some, one such manifestation is the landmark arts high school under construction downtown, which so far is costing about $1,000 per square foot. That doesn't include about $190 million spent to move the school district's headquarters, which once occupied that site.

In general, the bond program's costs also are driven up by such factors as the district's insistence on paying union wages, its local contractor training program, its community outreach effort for selecting school sites and its aim to build schools that also can be used as community recreation centers.

One widely used measure of construction efficiency is the number of change orders, which are costs that result from alterations or unforeseen conditions. The district's first set of 146 projects in the current new schools program had a change-order rate of 11.3%, higher than the industry average. Finishing Bernstein High required $14.5 million in change orders that added 22.6% to the original price tag.

But the school, which opened this fall, has other issues too. It all but overlooks the 101 Freeway on land acquired before district safety experts decided that particulates from freeways represented too great a hazard. And the design of the cafeteria is outdated.

"Where's the heat?" he said, referring to the lack of equipment for keeping hot food hot. "Where the flow?" he added, noting that the layout might leave students at the back of the line with too little time to eat.

Measure Q could address those deficiencies for about $200,000, and it could help pay for air filters to screen out particulates.

Both issues are lessons learned, which are being applied elsewhere, said Guy Mehula, the head of facilities. And the percentage of change orders is declining.

Back at Hollenbeck, Tuck gestured toward the sea of blacktop that passes for the school's playground. He said he envisions grass and trees in its place. Three years ago, the district spent $519,000 to add another layer of paving.

by Howard Blume in the LA Times Homeroom Blog

Photo credit: Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times

27 October -- As reported in today’s L.A. Times, the $7-billion Measure Q seeks, in large measure, to make older schools comparable to new ones. And the vast majority of students in L.A. Unified attend older schools. (Above, Steven Naranjo, left, sits in his seventh-grade class at Hollenbeck Middle School, which could see improvements if Measure Q passes.)

But despite support from Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the largest local school bond in state history has generated less enthusiasm among some powerful interest groups and civic leaders than past bonds. Most acknowledge that schools in the district need additional funding, but, beyond that, they have their issues.

From L.A. Unified's viewpoint, here is what the building program has accomplished.

Read on for a sampling of other perspectives from major unions, the Chamber of Commerce, charter schools, Connie Rice and Eli Broad, and a Westside parent:

Unlike many business associations elsewhere, the chamber is not automatically against nearly every tax as antithetical to business. Chamber leaders also assert that educating the future workforce is vital. And the bond funds pump dollars -- albeit from taxes -- into the local economy. The chamber endorsement flier states, "This bond will pay for long-overdue deferred maintenance of existing LAUSD schools averaging 61 years of age."

The politically potent teachers union has endorsed past bond measures but took no stand on this one, even though improved schools would offer better working conditions for teachers.

“We feel like, in these economic times, this is not the time,” said UTLA President A.J. Duffy, offering an explanation that veered close to sounding like a “no” vote. “Public education is going to fall apart in the next two or three or four years if somebody doesn’t change things materially. But you’re not going to save it by extending the [property tax] payments homeowners make, particularly when people are losing their homes.

“And there is $450 million in the bond for charter schools. That is problematic for us. And third, there is something like $2 billion in the bond that doesn’t have a clear-cut earmark. It’s not clear what that money is going to be used for.”

The organization that represents principals and other administrators took no official position, but President Michael O’Sullivan said he wants the bond measure to pass.

“We are very close to completing the task that [former L.A. Schools Supt.] Roy Romer began many years ago in terms of building new schools, but we have to refocus attention on the vast majority of our schools that are old and in need of repair. This bond begins to make a solid dent in deferred maintenance and upkeep. This is considered to be an election where public-education-friendly voters are likely to vote in large numbers, and I support the school district’s effort to keep the schools up to date however they can do it.”

School district officials were concerned that the charter-school community would mount an effective anti-bond campaign. This perceived clout won charters a $450-million share of the bond and a shot at other portions of the $7-billion measure.

But charter advocates aren’t celebrating. That’s because the terms of the bond won’t give charter operators the right to own sites that public funds help to build. As a result, certain financing options, which would allow them to leverage more money for construction, would be harder to obtain.

Charter leaders also are unhappy about the increased costs that would result from two other provisions. First, the bond rules won’t permit them to use less expensive, non-union contractors. Second, the district is requiring compliance with the Field Act, which is designed to make school buildings safer than other structures in earthquakes. But it also adds to construction costs.

This union represents about 6,800 fiscal, clerical and technical workers in L.A. Unified. It, too, has supported past bonds, but the organization accuses the district of improperly hiring consultants and independent contractors instead of qualified union members. District officials have denied these allegations.

“On a personal level,” wrote labor relations representative Connie Moreno in an e-mail, “I’m really conflicted. My own daughter went to inner-city schools in LAUSD. I’ve represented classified staff in the inner-city L.A. schools for 21 years. I know how badly repairs are needed in most of those schools –- especially the year-round, or formerly year-round, schools. (For years they had students, both adult and children, going to classes in those schools from 7:30 in the morning until 10 at night. Schools wear out.) “But I’m also really angry about the waste of taxpayer money from the previous bonds. There is absolutely no reason to pay outrageous amounts of money for many of the contract support positions. It reflects badly on facilities management -– folks who were either too stubborn or too lazy to hire workers legitimately.”

Local publisher David Abel added to the lukewarm chorus by posting an online installment of the Planning Report, which he titled, “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly,” referring to issues and measures on the ballot. “The Bad,” in that nomenclature, is the L.A. Unified bond measure.

Abel’s piece includes a transcription of a broadcast interview with civil-rights attorney Connie Rice, who chairs a committee appointed to oversee school-bond spending. Rice accepts that the money is needed but objected to the haste and last-minute changes in the bond measure, for which she held L.A. Unified Supt. David L. Brewer ultimately responsible.

(Abel, who formerly served on the appointed committee that oversees school-bond spending, said he cannot support Measure Q because of the issues enumerated by Rice.)

Two other major civic players, who are deeply involved in local education wars, were difficult to pin down last week regarding Measure Q. Former Mayor Richard Riordan declined an opportunity to weigh in. Billionaire philanthropist Eli Broad was out of the country and did not leave behind with his staff an unequivocal position. But a spokeswoman made it clear that Broad was extremely “disappointed” with the bond.

Westside parent John Ayers is unhappy about all the money spent for new schools in other parts of town, while he and his Westside neighbors resort to constant fundraising and other volunteer efforts to enhance their local school, Beethoven Elementary.

"I have been fighting for over three years to get some grass planted on our campus, which is currently a tarmac full of desolate, hot, black asphalt," Ayers wrote in an e-mail explaining why he is against this bond. "Bond money expenditures remind me of the government spending $3,000 on a toilet. Or $600 on a wrench! Convince me that this bond will be handled differently, and I will be the first one in line to vote YES."

District officials have long acknowledged that some schools and some areas have benefited substantially more than others. Rather than divide the money evenly by geographic region, L.A. Unified has opted to spend money where officials have decided it's needed most. And that has resulted in the bulk of bond funds going to central and South Los Angeles, the Eastside, portions of southeast L.A. County and lower income areas in the San Fernando Valley.

One side effect of this policy is that high-propensity middle- and upper-middle-class voters are, in essence, frequently paying for school improvements in other parts of town. Parents such as Ayers argue that their schools deserve more than they are getting.

DWP to refund $160 million in overcharges to other agencies

The municipal utility agrees to the settlement more than a year after a judge ruled that it had intentionally overcharged L.A. County, the L.A. Unified School District and other local governments.

By Phil Willon | LA Times Staff Writer

October 27, 2008 /1:34 PM PDT--The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power will refund $160 million that it overcharged other government agencies for more than a decade, authorities said today. The DWP agreed to the settlement more than a year after a San Bernardino County judge in June 2007 ruled that the nation's largest municipal utility had intentionally overcharged Los Angeles County, the Los Angeles Unified School District and other local governments.

"The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power had been imposing illegal and unjustified overcharges on their government customers for several years," California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown said in a statement. "The L.A. school district and the other governmental agencies desperately need every available dollar in these hard economic times." The biggest beneficiary will be the LAUSD, which will receive $25.3 million in the settlement, as well as $28 million in a special account set up for projects to reduce energy consumption. The county will receive $12.4 million, plus $13 million for energy conservation; and the county Metropolitan Transportation Authority will collect $11 million, plus $11 million for energy saving programs. The other entities receiving refunds include the Los Angeles Community College District, UCLA, Caltrans, the California Highway Patrol, the state Department of Motor Vehicles and several other state agencies.

Under state law, municipal power authorities can bill government agencies for a share of the costs of building power plants and transmission lines, but those charges must be based on the amount of power the customer used from those projects.

The lawsuit asserted that the DWP was charging the plaintiffs as much as 60% more than their legitimate share of capital costs and that the agencies were unaware they were being overcharged until a whistle-blower came forward in 2000.

H. David Nahai, DWP chief executive and general manager, said the agency respected the court's ruling in the case and had since corrected the manner in which government agencies are billed to ensure that the department complies with state law.

"We are pleased to have fashioned an agreement which will enable energy efficiency improvements and overall lowered energy usage for the plaintiffs in this action," Nahai said in a statement. "We can also take comfort in the fact that the involved parties are government entities whose constituents are largely LADWP customers. That the beneficiaries of this settlement serve the residents of the city and County of Los Angeles was a prime factor for LADWP to enter settlement negotiations."

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DWP to pay $160 million to government agencies

LAUSD to get almost $68 million

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has decided to drop its appeal of a $223 million verdict that said the utility overcharged the Los Angeles Unified School District and other government agencies over the past 10 years.

DWP officials offered no immediate comment to the announcement of the $160 million settlement today by attorney Eric R. Havian.

"This settlement will give back to the school district and our other clients some much-needed funds," Havian said. "We are pleased that this matter was resolved without the need for further litigation."

Under the settlement, the LAUSD will get $67.7 million, Los Angeles County will get $32.3 million, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority will get $28.1 million, various California state agencies will get $22.3 million, the Los Angeles Community College District will get $5.58 million and UCLA will get $3.8 million.

In June, San Bernardino Superior Court Judge John Wade ruled the DWP had overcharged for 10 years beginning in 1996 by billing for more than the cost of producing electricity.

Originally, the utility had indicated it would appeal the ruling.

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DWP to pay LAUSD, others $160M in overcharges

Contra Costa Times | From wire reports

Article Launched: 10/27/2008 02:03:29 PM PDT

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power will pay a $160 million judgment for overcharging the Los Angeles Unified School District, Metro and other governmental entities, state Attorney General Jerry Brown announced today.

The judgment stemmed from a state lawsuit filed against the DWP eight years ago. San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge John P. Wade issued a tentative decision in June 2007, which found the DWP should pay $223.8 million in damages. That amount was reduced to $160 million.

"The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has been imposing illegal and unjustified overcharges on their governmental customers for several years. The L.A. school district and other governmental agencies desperately need every available dollar in these hard economic times," Brown said.

DWP General Manager David Nahai said the utility "engaged in good faith settlement discussions that have culminated in a settlement agreement amenable to all parties."

The DWP will make an initial cash payment of $60 million, and $5 million per year for the next three years. Another $67.8 million will be used to implement programs designed to lower energy demand or consumption, and $17.2 million in bill credits will be applied to the plaintiffs' bills for the next 10 years.

The $160 million settlement is the largest ever made against a utility for overcharging customers, according to attorneys for the plaintiffs.

"This settlement will give back to the school district and our other clients some much-needed funds. We are pleased that the matter was resolved without the need for further litigation," said Eric Havian, an attorney who represented the non-state agencies in the case.

Under state law, municipal power authorities can only charge governmental agencies their proportionate share of what it cost to build the electric facility that provides their energy.

The judgment will be split among five local agencies and the state. They are:

-- Los Angeles Unified School District, $67.7 million;

-- Los Angeles County, $32.3 million;

-- Metropolitan Transportation Authority, $28.1 million;

-- Los Angeles Community College District, $5.58 million;

-- UCLA, $3.8 million;

-- California state agencies, $22.3 million.

"We can also take comfort in the fact that the involved parties are government entities whose constituents are largely LADWP customers. That the beneficiaries of this settlement serve the residents of the city and county of Los Angeles was a prime factor for LADWP to enter settlement negotiations," Nahai said.